Day 207 The Word Destroys Their Craft

In Matthew 5:13, Jesus tells his followers that they are the salt of the earth, and in the same sentence offers a warning that savorless salt is good for nothing. Join me in an attempt to be savory salt as I share each day one verse of scripture and one small thought. Perhaps this small daily emphasis can lead to greater savor in your life and ultimately you and I can be savory salt.

Hello, my friends and family, wherever you're listening from. Thank you for joining me and know that I'm cheering for your every success. Welcome to day 207 on our 365-day journey through the Book of Mormon together.

Today, you're going to be reading Alma chapter 34 verses 33 to 41. You will finish that chapter and hear some incredible testimony and an invitation to not procrastinate The Day of Your Repentance, there at the tail end of that chapter. And then you're also going to read Alma chapter 35 verses 1 through 6.

And that's actually where we're going to go into our verse for today. But beforehand, I wanted to just give you a couple of cool bits of information. One, congratulations on reaching 55% of the Book of Mormon completed.

You are now, from now on, it just shrinks and shrinks and shrinks as we go through the Book of Mormon. Well done diving through that. Inside of that 55% of the Book of Mormon being done, something that just stood out to me here: Did you know that inside of Savory Salt, we are now almost, we just shy of it, 21 hours of this?

We've almost spent a day together. And the cool thing about that is that it's happened a little bit at a time, tiny bits, just a little bit at a time. We're averaging at this point, 207 episodes in.

We're averaging about six minutes an episode. So thank you for joining me there. I hope that it has been rich and fulfilling in your life.

It certainly has in mine as I've been able to dive into the scriptures every day just a little bit. Today, let's take a look at our verse and see what it can bring for us. We're going to read, and it's interesting because I thought about kind of some of the popular verses in Alma 34, but I pray before every episode to try and see what comes and what I should possibly share.

And this is one that I feel like I'm going to try and share today. So we're going to read Alma chapter 35 verse three, and the Zoramites have heard the message now from Alma and Amulek. And then we're going to get this part in verse 3 which is kind of interesting to look at.

And it came to pass that after the more popular part of the Zoramites had consulted together concerning the words which had been preached unto them, they were angry because of the word, for it did destroy their craft. Therefore, they would not hearken unto the words. Man, there are some interesting phrases inside of here that I want to point out: The more popular part of the Zoramites.

Now, that could be taken in two different contexts. I don't think it meant to be taken in the more popular as in like the popular group, but I see it as the majority—the more populous part of the group. Could be either one of those, though, so kind of interesting.

But there's this big group getting together here and then they consult about it. So they listen to each other and then their consulting with each other gets the group angry. They decide that they're angry and why are they angry?

Because the words destroy their craft. And this is a reference to priestcraft, which remember is when you get gain for yourself rather than helping to grow Zion or any part of the gospel of Jesus Christ on the earth. And so you have this group here, the more popular part of the people that are angry because they don't want to change the way they're doing things.

And they may even lose out on some business here if people start to repent and change. Thus, they get angry and they reject the word. I think it's worth keeping in mind here that these large groups of people, when you get together, there's this psychological phenomenon called groupthink, and groupthink doesn't like change.

It wants the group to stay moving in whatever direction that is. And a lot of times when groupthink happens, you are an individual and you have been blessed with the spirit to guide you and direct you as you live your covenants and keep the commandments. You are an individual with personal accountability and the ability to make personal choices.

Don't get caught in the more popular part of the people and the groupthink that can occur which may cause your anger and ultimately your rejection of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That's all for today, my friends. Remember that by small and simple things are great things brought to pass.

Keep it small, keep it simple, and always seek to be savory salt. I'll be here tomorrow and I hope you are too.